Sherrilyn Ifill to deliver 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture on Oct. 29

Renowned civil rights lawyer and scholar Sherrilyn Ifill will deliver the 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture on October 29. The annual lecture at Harvard honors individuals who exemplify Dr. King’s devotion to advancing equality and justice through activism, service or scholarship. 

 Ifill has long been a leader in advocating for racial justice and equality. As president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) from 2013 to 2022, and the second woman to have led the LDF, she litigated on civil rights issues such as voting rights and economic justice. Her scholarship in law and civil rights has influenced contemporary conversations about race and democracy. 

Ifill was at the helm of the law organization when police violence against unarmed Black people was at the forefront of national conversation and was one of the leading voices in confronting the issue. She currently serves as LDF’s president and director-counsel emeritus. 

“Each fall, we seek to recognize an individual who has advanced the causes of justice and equality through activism, advocacy, scholarship, or service. This year’s lecturer far surpasses our goals,” said Harvard President Alan Garber in his announcement. “She has, inch by inch, helped to move our country forward, and I am eager to welcome her back to campus and to acknowledge her many contributions to some of the causes that Dr. King held dear.” 

Howard Law School appointed Ifill as the inaugural Vernon Jordan Endowed Chair in Civil Rights, where she also leads the 14^th Amendment Center for Law & Democracy.  Her 2008 book, “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21^st Century” is a seminal work that documents the history of lynching and examines its effects and trauma in the United States. Her forthcoming book, “Is this America?” will continue to advance the conversation on race and democracy in America. 

Ifill earned a B.A. in English from Vassar College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. She began her career at the American Civil Liberties Union as a fellow, and subsequently became an assistant counsel litigating voting rights cases at LDF. Ifill turned to a career in academia in 1993 when she joined the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Law, where she taught civil procedures and constitutional law.   

The 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture will take place on October 29, at 5:30 p.m. at the Harvard Business School’s Klarman Hall. Hosted by the Office of the President and administered by the Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (OEDIB), all Harvard affiliates are invited each year to submit lecturer nominations. For more information on how to get tickets, visit https://www.harvard.edu/mlk-lecture/.